Wednesday after
Epiphany
Mark, Chapter 6, Verse 49-50
49 But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a
ghost and cried out. 50 They had all seen him
and were terrified. But at once he spoke with them, “Take courage, it is
I, do not be afraid!”
Christ compels us to be not afraid. Bravery, Nerve, Pluck, Valor,
Daring, Audacity, Mettle and lastly resolution are all synonyms for courage.
Which word strikes your heart? For me it is resolution. For I am determined not
to invalidate Christ sacrifice for me, I will not stop trying to become the
vision He has for me; I am resolute. No matter how many times I fall I will get
up; I will not stop. I will remember that the journey before a man tries the
measure of his heart long before it tests the strength of his legs. I will
remember that a man’s life is likening unto a lake with no outlet in which no
life will come. Life giving water is always moving and giving of itself. Man,
to be truly a creature of God must give of his essence and run to the sound of
battle. In today’s environment Christ and the church His visible head is
engaged in a battle with the world. On this date in 1951 the UN headquarters
opened in NYC. Is the UN friend or foe in this battle?
The Holy See and the Catholic Church will, in the near future, be
called before the International Court of Justice to answer for its history of crimes
against children. The United Nations will be the prime mover in this, but
liberal elites in the United States will be doing all they can to bring the
Church to Her knees.
WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - On Wednesday, February 6, 2014,
the United Nations dropped a media bomb on the Catholic Church. One might call
it the media equivalent of a nuclear attack: Headlines filled the Internet
starting with phrases like:
·
"UN panel blasts Vatican handling of clergy sex abuse, church
teachings on gays, abortion." (Washington Post)
·
"Kick out those who sexually abuse children, U.N. panel tells
Vatican."(CNN)
·
"UN Blasts Vatican on Sex Abuse." (Boston Globe)
·
"Vatican policies allowed priests to rape, molest children,
UN committee says." (Detroit Free Press)
·
"Vatican systematically allowed priests to rape children,
says UN report."(Toronto Star)
The number of hits after googling the words, UN report-Vatican-sex
abuse, goes on for dozens of pages, with not a single headline suggesting the
UN's report was inaccurate, nefarious, and, breathtakingly arrogant.
Here are some facts about the 15-page report issued Wednesday by
the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (with thanks again to Bill Donohue for sorting out this nonsense, but dangerous
nonsense nonetheless):
1. The report makes a series of accusations
against the Holy See without supporting evidence of any footnotes, endnotes, or
attributions of any kind. In other words, sheer assertion without either
argument or evidence. For those who read history, the term
"Stalinism" comes to mind.
2. The United Nations demands that the Holy See
submit itself to UN authority in matters pertaining not only to children's
rights but also to homosexuality and abortion. As Donohue puts it, the
report "does provide plenty of evidence as to its real agenda."
3. The United Nations demands the Catholic
Church make changes to Canon Law to bring it into conformity with policies and
ideology of guess who? - the United Nations. Just when you think you've seen
the worst of this topsy-turvy world, such as the President (Obama) of the
United States dismissing the dangers of smoking marijuana, you see this. You
shake your head, you clear your throat, and you want to throw up, or laugh,
either one or the other.
4. The report, again I am using Donohue's
analysis, says the Holy See should "undertake the necessary steps to
withdraw all its reservations and to ensure the [U.N.] Convention's precedence
over internal laws and regulations." (the report's emphasis.)
5. Just in case the implications of #4 weren't
clear enough, read this: "The Committee recommends that the Holy See
undertake a comprehensive review of its normative framework, in particular
Canon Law, with a view to ensuring its full compliance with the
Convention." The Catholic Church must bend Her knee to the authority of
the United Nations.
As
Bill Donohue puts it, "Hubris is too mild a word to describe this unmitigated
arrogance." To any fair-minded, informed, sensible person, this report
should make a laughing stock of the United Nations. The report itself should
raise questions about the integrity of the UN and its ideological
will-to-power. But, alas, the media is all too willing to comply.
6. The report demands that Catholic schools
alter their textbooks to eliminate "gender stereotypes." Although, as
Donohue points out, there is no evidence put forward that such stereotypes even
exist.
7. Don't laugh: The report demands the Vatican
initiate "awareness programs" for those who work with children. As
Donohue points out, there is no mention of any other religious community or the
public schools, where the problem goes largely unreported.
8. Again, don't laugh: The report tells the
Vatican to amend Canon Law and Vatican City State laws to "end corporal
punishment." Bill Donohue, indeed, does have a sense of humor when he says
the UN is "too busy wondering if Sister Mary Alice is taking a ruler to a
miscreant student to mention the 10,000 Syrian children who have been killed
and tortured the last three years."
9. This fact is very telling: The report tells
the Catholic Church to eliminate "baby boxes," those boxes next to
orphanages where women who cannot care for their newborns make sure that they
will be raised and nurtured. What's the alternative to a "baby box?"
None, other than abortion, which is what the United Nations aggressively
promotes worldwide with U.S tax dollars.
10. Final fact: Call this a prediction that I
bet will come true: The Holy See and the Catholic Church will, in the near
future, be called before the International Court of Justice to answer for its
history of crimes against children. The United Nations will be the prime mover
in this, but liberal elites in the United States will be doing all they can to
bring the Church to Her knees.
Wednesday After Epiphany[3]
Read--World Youth Day is just 2 weeks away! Learn about some of the events for those staying here and traveling to Panama this month.
Reflect--World Youth Day themes have recently been centered around the Blessed Virgin Mary. Reflect on this year's theme today: "I am the servant of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38).
Pray--Pray for all pilgrims celebrating World Youth Day this month stateside or en route to Panama.
Act--Listen to the World Youth Day song, "Here I Am, the Servant of the Lord."
St. Francis initiated the beautiful practice of displaying a Christmas crib or creche. He built it in a cave on a bleak mountain near the village of Greccio. News of what he was doing spread all over the countryside and a steady stream of men, women and chldren came by night carrying torches and candles to light their way. "It seemed like midday," wrote someone who was there, "during that midnight filled with gladness for man and beast, and the crowds drawing near, so happy to be present for the renewal of the eternal mystery." Francis himself sang the Gospel story in a voice which was "strong and sweet and clear," says the observer. "Then he preached to the people, most movingly, about the birth of the poor King in little Bethlehem." — Excerpted from Christmas
·
Day Sixteen activity (St. Francis and the
Creche)
·
Day Sixteen recipe (Double Chocolate Mocha
Biscotti)
Complete My Joy[1]
44. The Catechism of the
Catholic Church teaches: “Parents have the first responsibility for the
education of their children. They bear witness to this responsibility first by
creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and selfless
service are the rule. The home is well suited for education in the virtues.
This requires an apprenticeship in self-denial, sound judgment, and
self-mastery—the preconditions of all true freedom. Parents should teach their
children to subordinate the material and instinctual dimensions to interior and
spiritual ones.”
45. To educate comes from the Latin word meaning “to lead out.” Parents are called, and by the nature of their relationship to their children, have a unique ability, to lead their children out of self-absorption into the happiness of self-control and the ability to make a self-gift of love for others. Fathers and mothers “are teachers because they are parents.” And even when you delegate your educational role, in part, to capable professional teachers and schools, it remains your role to be the primary educators of your child, especially in the areas of faith, virtue and prayer.
46. I constantly thank God for my Mom and Dad, and for our home where prayer was as normal as breathing. There were crucifixes in our bedrooms and the Last Supper on the wall next to our dining room table. On the dresser in my parents’ bedroom were statues of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, along with a candle to be lit before evening prayer and enough rosaries for each of us—the dresser served like a household altar around which we knelt every evening to pray. By going to Confession together as a family, every two weeks, I learned how God’s mercy restored peace and made it possible for each of us to forgive and receive forgiveness. The Lord’s Day was marked by Mass together, plus a meal and fun activities with other relatives and friends.
49 Godly Character Traits[5]
The Family Home: Natural Center of
Education and Prayer
45. To educate comes from the Latin word meaning “to lead out.” Parents are called, and by the nature of their relationship to their children, have a unique ability, to lead their children out of self-absorption into the happiness of self-control and the ability to make a self-gift of love for others. Fathers and mothers “are teachers because they are parents.” And even when you delegate your educational role, in part, to capable professional teachers and schools, it remains your role to be the primary educators of your child, especially in the areas of faith, virtue and prayer.
46. I constantly thank God for my Mom and Dad, and for our home where prayer was as normal as breathing. There were crucifixes in our bedrooms and the Last Supper on the wall next to our dining room table. On the dresser in my parents’ bedroom were statues of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, along with a candle to be lit before evening prayer and enough rosaries for each of us—the dresser served like a household altar around which we knelt every evening to pray. By going to Confession together as a family, every two weeks, I learned how God’s mercy restored peace and made it possible for each of us to forgive and receive forgiveness. The Lord’s Day was marked by Mass together, plus a meal and fun activities with other relatives and friends.
47.
The family—including your family—is the irreplaceable center of life and love
for the world and the Church. In fact, and this remains the most neglected and
urgent of facts, “The future of the world and of the Church passes through the
family.” No matter what challenges you face in your family in living God’s
plan, the Lord has more grace in store than you can imagine. The nature of the
family is a gift and a calling to life and love. We might pause here and take a
breath, a deep breath, pondering the mission this implies, God’s call to the
free-will of every person whose vocation is marriage and family! Yes, an
adventurous mission awaits you in your family life.
49 Godly Character Traits[5]
During
this New Year let us take up the nature of God by reflecting on these traits
that make us a model for our children and our sisters and brothers in Christ.
Today reflect on:
Sincerity
vs. Hypocrisy
Eagerness to do what is right with transparent motives (I Peter 1:22)
2391 Some today claim a
"right to a trial marriage" where there is an intention of
getting married later. However, firm the purpose of those who engage in
premature sexual relations may be, "the fact is that such liaisons can
scarcely ensure mutual sincerity and fidelity in a relationship between a man
and a woman, nor, especially, can they protect it from inconstancy of desires
or whim." Carnal union is morally legitimate only when a definitive
community of life between a man and woman has been established. Human love does
not tolerate "trial marriages." It demands a total and definitive
gift of persons to one another.
2468 Truth as
uprightness in human action and speech is called truthfulness, sincerity, or
candor. Truth or truthfulness is the virtue which consists in showing oneself
true in deeds and truthful in words, and in guarding against duplicity,
dissimulation, and hypocrisy.
2505 Truth or
truthfulness is the virtue which consists in showing oneself true in deeds and
truthful in words, and guarding against duplicity, dissimulation, and
hypocrisy.
"Read
these counsels slowly. Pause to meditate on these thoughts. They are things
that I whisper in your ear-confiding them-as a friend, as a brother, as a
father. And they are being heard by God. I won't tell you anything new. I will
only stir your memory, so that some thought will arise and strike you; and so
you will better your life and set out along ways of prayer and of Love. And in
the end you will be a more worthy soul."
Conquer yourself each day from the very first moment, getting up
on the dot, at a fixed time, without yielding a single minute to laziness. If,
with God's help, you conquer yourself, you will be well ahead for the rest of
the day. It's so discouraging to find oneself beaten at the first skirmish!
Daily Devotions
[3]http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgical-year/christmas/christmas-january-9.cfm
[5]http://graceonlinelibrary.org/home-family/christian-parenting/49-godly-Tcharacter-qualities/
[6]http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/the_way-point-1.htm
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